National Initiatives

The American Association of Colleges and Universities published a policy brief, “A Guide to Major U.S. College Completion Initiatives” by Alene Russell. We reviewed this list and below provide links to those that offer particularly useful information.

All have a common goal of increasing the number of Americans with a post-secondary degree or credential.  Some have recommended specific measures to further that goal. Others include an emphasis on a specific population such as underrepresented populations or adults who have college credit but no degree.

Achieving the Dream
Focuses specifically on two-year colleges with an emphasis on efforts to keep low-income and students of color in school and earning credentials. Good source for information on best practices, especially for at-risk students 

Adult College Completion Network
Focused on increasing college completion by adults with prior college credits but no degree.

American Association of Colleges and Universities  
Good overall site for information and updated policy papers. To see the complete article “A Guide to Major U.S. College Completion Initiatives”

College Completion Agenda 
This College Board Policy and Advocacy Center initiative is promoting goal to increase proportion of 25-34 year-olds who hold an associate degree or higher to 55% by 2025. Provides state-by-state comparisons, covers Pre-K and up education.

Complete College America 
A leader in the effort. Collecting data from each state.

Complete to Compete 
A National Governors Association Chair initiative in 2010-2011 that developed a set of common measures, compiled best practices, and provided grants to help states achieve higher graduation rates.  Complete College America is using much of their material.

Lumina Foundation for Education
The nation’s largest private foundation focused on getting more Americans into and through higher education. Their “big goal” is to increase the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60% by 2025. The website provides reports on topics related to the goal.

Project Win-Win
This project of the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) is targeting students who were at or near completion of an associate degree to achieve completion. As of fall 2011, 64 institutions were participating. The broader site for IHEP also contains more information on completion topics.